Page, Again
by Epikoinos
Summary: Inspired by promt #233 at Tamora Pierce Prompt of the Day on Tumblr: "Prompt #233 (by anonymous) Kel having to redo all four years of being a page because of missing the exams." The timeline diverges from canon close to the end of Page.


"Gods, Mindelan," Lord Wyldon said, clasping Kel's shoulder, "I would you had been a boy." He let her go. "Come. There's someone who wants to talk to you."

Kel was surprised. Lord Wyldon had said they were going to supper, but now he led her up the stairs towards the page's library instead of down the corridor to the mess hall. As she followed she thought 'But I _like _being a girl'.

When they got to the library Lord Wyldon walked through it towards the study rooms at its sides. Kel trailed behind him, more curious for every step. When Lord Wyldon opened one of the doors she let out a small gasp in surprise.

At the rough-hewn desk in the middle of the small room sat Queen Thayet of Tortall, dressed in deep green silk. Her face was pure ivory, her lips rubies, her nose majestic. Her green-hazel eyes were made brighter by her gown. She looked extremely out of place in the simple room.

She rose as they entered. Kel was so surprised that she almost followed her Yamani impulse to fall to her knees. She bowed deeply instead.

"Your Majesty," she said, blushing.

Queen Thayet smiled kindly at her.

"Page Keladry of Mindelan," she said. "I've heard much about you. Thank you for bringing her, Lord Wyldon. You may leave."

Lord Wyldon bowed and left the room.

"Please sit," the queen said, patting the bench beside her.

Kel sat. Her head was spinning. She was sitting so close to the queen – the _queen_! – that she could smell her discreet perfume.

Queen Thayet spoke again. "I have something I want to ask of you, Page Keladry. But, before I ask it I need to explain some things. You may eat while I talk."

She gestured towards a plate that stood on the table under a silver food dome. I all the turmoil of meeting the queen Kel hadn't even noticed it until now. The thought of eating in front of the queen made Kel self-conscious, but she was also _very _hungry.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," she said.

When she lifted the dome the smell of the food made her stomach growl. The corner of the queen's mouth twitched a little at the sound, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she started her explanation.

"Firstly," she said, "I'm not sure how much you remember of what's happened since you got down from Balor's Needle. The men who kidnapped Mistress Isran have been caught by a pack of dogs sent by Daine. Since then they've confessed that they were paid to kidnap your maid to prevent you from getting to the great examinations in time. They won't tell us who it was that paid them, but we suspect that they know. Once they get a taste of what 'hard labour' truly means they may be more inclined to speak."

Kel had known all this, but she appreciated the queen telling her again. She was still a bit dizzy from her healing.

"We suspect, of course, that it's a nobleman who's behind this," the queen continued. "It is nobles and not commoners who mutter about letting a girl train for knighthood. If we're right, it turns out that even if we get him into court he might not get the punishment he deserves."

Kel almost choked on a piece of parsnip. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," she said through coughs. "How is that?"

"As soon as I heard about what happened I went to Gary – Duke Gareth – to ask him what the law says about cases like this. Together we found a paragraph called "In the matter of one noble's interference with the body servant of another noble" in _The Laws of Tortall_. The law is as clear as it is horrible. If we catch the monster who did this, he'll just have to pay you a small fine for loss of service. Mistress Isran won't even be counted as part in the case."

Kel stared at the queen in disbelief, her spoon raised halfway to her mouth.

"Yes, I know," Queen Thayet said. "That law needs to _go_. It shames me and King Jonathan to be sovereigns over a country with laws like that. But changing the law will take years, and it won't help your maid. Duke Gareth and I kept looking, however, and we found another law that could be relevant. It says that it's a crime against the Crown to deprive it of the services of a knight. It's meant to stop Lords from locking up knights who displease them, but the wording is so vague that it can be used to suit our purpose."

Kel didn't understand. "But Your Majesty," she said, "Lalasa is no knight. How can this law be relevant?"

Queen Thayet smiled at that, but it was a grim smile. When she spoke again her voice was somehow both soft and rock hard at the same time.

"No, Page Keladry," she said, "Lalasa is no knight. But _you_ will be. And four years is a long time to deprive the Crown of a knight."

* * *

Kel walked back to her room in a haze. She couldn't quite fathom what she'd just agreed to. She'd been prepared to do her page years over by necessity, but now she was going to do it by _choice_. Queen Thayet had told her that the Lord Magistrate had decided to let her take the great examinations on her own. But if Keladry went on to become a squire now there would be no four year delay of her knighthood for the prosecution to use against Lalasa's kidnapper. So Kel would spend four more years as a page, and she would rejoice in it, because she'd be doing it for Lalasa.

"Hey, there, Mindelan!" someone yelled at Kel through the haze of her thoughts. She turned towards the voice and saw a leering face surrounded by white hair. _Joren_.

"Where've you been?" he asked. "When you didn't show at supper I thought you'd already left in shame."

Kel looked into his beautiful blue eyes. Doing do made her remember another time she'd looked into those eyes. Joren had been smiling then too, but the smile hadn't quite reached the eyes. Kel had been on the curtain wall sketching a map, and he'd asked her why she did it when it scared her to be so high up. She'd replied that the gods would test her by making her save someone on a height. A little more than a year later she'd saved Lalasa from Balor's Needle.

Certainty hit Kel like a rock. 'It was _you_,' she thought to herself, keeping her face blank. 'I _know_ it. And I know you think you'll get away with it. But you won't. We have you now, you smug rotter, and you will go _down_.'

She gave him a silent bow and continued walking.


End file.
